How to Tell a Sociopath from a Psychopath

Many forensic psychologists, psychiatrists and criminologists use the terms sociopathy and psychopathy interchangeably. Leading experts disagree on whether there are meaningful differences between the two conditions. I contend that there are clear and significant distinctions between them.

The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), released by the American Psychiatric Association in 2013, lists both sociopathy and psychopathy under the heading of Antisocial Personality Disorders (ASPD). These disorders share many common behavioral traits which lead to the confusion between them. Key traits that sociopaths and psychopaths have in common, include:

A disregard for laws and social mores

A disregard for the rights of others

A failure to feel remorse or guilt

A tendency to display violent behavior

In addition to their commonalities, sociopaths and psychopaths also have their own unique behavioral characteristics, as well.

Sociopaths tend to be nervous and easily agitated. They are volatile and prone to emotional outbursts, including fits of rage. They are likely to be uneducated and live on the fringes of society, unable to hold down a steady job or stay in one place for very long. It is difficult but not impossible for sociopaths to form attachments with others. Many sociopaths are able to form an attachment to a particular individual or group, although they have no regard for society in general or its rules. In the eyes of others, sociopaths will appear to be very disturbed. Any crimes committed by a sociopath, including murder, will tend to be haphazard, disorganized and spontaneous rather than planned.

Psychopaths, on the other hand, are unable to form emotional attachments or feel real empathy with others, although they often have disarming or even charming personalities. Psychopaths are very manipulative and can easily gain people’s trust. They learn to mimic emotions, despite their inability to actually feel them, and will appear normal to unsuspecting people. Psychopaths are often well educated and hold steady jobs. Some are so good at manipulation and mimicry that they have families and other long-term relationships without those around them ever suspecting their true nature.

When committing crimes, psychopaths carefully plan out every detail in advance and often have contingency plans in place. Unlike their sociopathic counterparts, psychopathic criminals are cool, calm, and meticulous. Their crimes, whether violent or non-violent, will be highly organized and generally offer few clues for authorities to pursue. Intelligent psychopaths make excellent white-collar criminals and "con artists" due to their calm and charismatic natures.

The cause of psychopathy is different than the cause of sociopathy (1). It is believed that psychopathy is the largely the result of “nature” (genetics) while sociopathy is more likely the result of “nurture” (environment). Psychopathy is related to a physiological defect that results in the underdevelopment of the part of the brain responsible for impulse control and emotions. Sociopathy, on the other hand, is more likely the product of childhoodtrauma and physical/emotional abuse. Because sociopathy appears to be learned rather than innate, sociopaths are capable of empathy in certain limited circumstances but not in others, and with a few individuals but not others.

Psychopathy is the most dangerous of all antisocial personality disorders because of the way psychopaths dissociate emotionally from their actions, regardless of how terrible those actions may be. Many prolific and notorious serial killers, including the late Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy, and the incarcerated Dennis Rader ("Bind, Torture, Kill" or BTK) are unremorseful psychopaths. Psychopathic killers view their innocent victims as inhuman objects to be tormented and exterminated for their own amusement or even sexual gratification.

Contrary to popular mythology, most serial killers are not mentally ill in either a clinical or legal sense nor are they "evil" geniuses. At least forty percent of all serial killers are unrepentant psychopaths. See my related article on that topic.

Excellent question. Both sociopaths and psychopaths can exhibit emotional outbursts but the underlying cause is different for each. Psychopaths do so out of mimicry (believing it to be appropriate) while sociopaths do so from a lack of control. Hope that helps.

So basically psychopaths deceive people and show them a side of their personality that does not actually exist, right?

Therefore, they are like actors who play a role, and they play it so well and make it look so genuine that people believe them. So that makes psychopathy the most dangerous of all antisocial personality disorders. Did I get that right?

I'm a bit confused here. you say in your comment that psychopaths have a tendency towards violence, and some sources tend to suggest the same. Others however, including Robert Hare in his book "without conscience" says that only a very small percentage of psychopaths are actually violent..
Not too sure what to think at this stage..
could it be that Dr Hare's findings may be somewhat dated, or is it something else?
One thing for sure is that there are lots of contradictions in this field...

Violence is a label given by the definition of hurting something (essentially); however, to a psychopath violence is not an emotional act and isn't triggered, it is more like an instinct something carried out internally, but because being human has the benefits of understanding. A psychopath understands right and wrong if given the knowledge to understand, because the two will always feel the same. Wrong acts of violence don't feel wrong, they don't feel like anything. Like everyone, everyone is their own person some will act on their instinct to do something that in society says is wrong, but others who understand the difference can respond accordingly. Although outburst can still happen but this will be driven not out of anger or anything emotional. This is my opinion.

April
I have tried to wrap my brain around your disjointed points about psychopathy and along with your inability to discuss the subject at hand I'm not sure what else is needed to be said.
I wanted/still want conducive discourse on the socio/psycho brain pattern and behavior, but replying to your post has just been too exhausting for me to go any further....at this time

I see that everyone has am oppinion... Thats why i wanted to see what you wher thinking!
I find it impressive that you get psycopaths into the dangerous group of killers.
Me, I am actually a psychopath and I can see that not one of you can actually see that it's not a bad thing!
Let's start from the beginning:
We are the ones who blend in the society wile sociopaths can't;
We are polite and even thou we might not balive in it we still follow the rules;
We are more likely to controll our selfs then sociopaths.
Then there's the part wher you people say we cant feel emotions... Not with most people, no. But I, for exemple, trully love my sister. I could kill someone without feeling remorseful but not my sister ( my close family).
We are not monsters waiting for you and blending invso we can latter take advantage of you! I kill cat's sinse im 12, smaller animals before cat's, and yes I thought about killing someone, but I didn't and that's because I can control my self in a way that most people with feelings and emotions can't and its all because I have less emotions.
Plus, and finally, I have an high IQ and most psycopaths do too. In the other hand sociopaths don't.
So bottom line is don't get too obsessed because you wont get it unless you talk to someone like me. Thank you for reading and I hope I made my point.

An actual psychopath would never admit to being a psychopath. Not to mention psychopaths are well educated and you made the rookie mistake of using the word "then" when you should have used "than".... No even slightly intelligent person would make that mistake.. Actually, a good bit of what you wrote has mistakes. You are just some weirdo that thinks it's cool to be a psychopath so you wish you actually were want psychopath so you wish you actually were one. Get a life.

If psychopaths are always well educated, might it have some bearing in regards to the newish term "affluenza" ? Is it possibly just an ego out of control? Is there some sort fiscal/social cause? Is it a predator unbound from nature?

Many psychopaths are self aware and in the context of an anonymous form, why wouldn't they tell people? Especially a narcissistic psychopath, as this person clearly is. The only reason he wouldn't be announcing this to everyone, everywhere is that his motive to blend in is greater than the desire to be recognized for it.

An actual psychopath would never admit to being a psychopath. Not to mention psychopaths are well educated and you made the rookie mistake of using the word "then" when you should have used "than".... No even slightly intelligent person would make that mistake.. Actually, a good bit of what you wrote has mistakes. You are just some weirdo that thinks it's cool to be a psychopath so you wish you actually were want psychopath so you wish you actually were one. Get a life.

Exactly zero of you have even the slightest clue as to what you're ranting about. Sure a psychopath would admit it, anonymously. Something tells me that's not his real name, or did you think it was? IQ and spelling have nothing to do with each other since IQ measures capacity for knowledge, not knowledge itself. You are the worst kind of idiot. You walk confidently among erudite individuals oozing your ignorance everywhere, tainting subject matter for those who are genuinely interested in learning. You make absolute statements as if you literally know all there is to know. But you're so low rent, how could you possibly? You don't. That's your answer. So stop assuming. If I weren't seething with irritation I'd be embarrassed for you. You're obviously looking for Tumblr, so do us all a favor and take your ranting thought sludge over there where someone is dumb enough to take your word for it.
Bottom line, there is no way you can tell if this person is a psychopath using your piss poor supply of knowledge and research.
This goes for your fellow morons commenting the exact same thing.

I agree with you. Most people just feel so entirely average or below and it bothers them so that anyone who mentions having an above average ability is bashed. How DARE they acknowledge that theyre pretty/smart etc They then look to insignificant details to criticize the "offender". There is nothing wrong with acknowledging a skill you may have. Even IF the person is overestimating themselves, its not your problem. Stop being envious of those with confidence that you so lack. You can't judge someone based on a single anonymous comment.

People who are dyslexic make spelling errors, as do people with acquired brain injury, as do non-native speakers, as do "normal" everyday people... This is a comment field, not a major publication or resume!!

People who are dyslexic make spelling errors, as do people with acquired brain injury, as do non-native speakers, as do "normal" everyday people... This is a comment field, not a major publication or resume!!

Additionally, why would someone who has disregard for social this/that give a rat's arse about not flaunting the "rules" of spelling?

I see that everyone has am oppinion... Thats why i wanted to see what you wher thinking!
I find it impressive that you get psycopaths into the dangerous group of killers.
Me, I am actually a psychopath and I can see that not one of you can actually see that it's not a bad thing!
Let's start from the beginning:
We are the ones who blend in the society wile sociopaths can't;
We are polite and even thou we might not balive in it we still follow the rules;
We are more likely to controll our selfs then sociopaths.
Then there's the part wher you people say we cant feel emotions... Not with most people, no. But I, for exemple, trully love my sister. I could kill someone without feeling remorseful but not my sister ( my close family).
We are not monsters waiting for you and blending invso we can latter take advantage of you! I kill cat's sinse im 12, smaller animals before cat's, and yes I thought about killing someone, but I didn't and that's because I can control my self in a way that most people with feelings and emotions can't and its all because I have less emotions.
Plus, and finally, I have an high IQ and most psycopaths do too. In the other hand sociopaths don't.
So bottom line is don't get too obsessed because you wont get it unless you talk to someone like me. Thank you for reading and I hope I made my point.

I'm sorry, but you're full of shit. You say you have a high IQ? Why, then, does your post contain 38943984 spelling and grammatical errors?
Stop watching Dexter. You're an idiot, not a psychopath.

You claim to have such intelligence, yet your grasp of the English language is tenuous at best. Did you administer quotient tests to every sociopath ever born? If not, how do you know their IQs? You're just another boring narcissist.

@PsychoAnonymous... I'm laughing my ass off at your letter calling yourself a psychopath with high IQ. But after reading all these replies to your comments you ended up as a stupid clown - the joke was just on you.
Stop rating yourself high when you have spelling and grammar issues. You're only making a fool out of yourself. You struggle to cover up your low self-esteem. Move the hell on.

Why do you kill or did you kill animals and cats? And if you love your sister then you do feel love, correct? I have a hard time believing that lack of part of the brain makes one unable to feel certain emotions because if they are just acting out these emitions, doesn't that take being able to feel some emotion to even know which "act to follow"?

I don't know exactly how to answer your question because when I think of love I wonder what am I supposed to feel? am I supposed to feel warm and fuzzy like I'm on drugs? lol. I've noticed that the older I get the colder I get. the last few times I've started seeing guys and I would usually be drunk, I would feel a connection, like conversations flowed easier, but you never really will dissolve that wall between. I would be having these drunk thoughts of 'just go with it' 'do not regret this' 'this is exactly what I want to do' but then I would wake up the next morning, make up some bullshit to go home and be alone then work myself up into a complete panic, most of the time ending in myself going to the ER where I would make myself throw up over and over until I passed out from exhaustion and dehydration and play with the staff members in a way and then be fine a couple hours later. I would go see the person again but this time it would be with a different set of expectations, I try to dig deeper into their minds for that connection fix and it wouldn't always go the way I wanted it to. I would drink heavily and say some weird things which scared the other person. I would be pretending to take a ton of sleeping pills by shaking the bottle empty into my hand and they would freak out saying how many of those did you take?!? I couldn't understand the impact of that action, it has absolutely nothing on me and I can't imagine how that could inflict pain on someone. if I died, it would be my fault. the only connection I felt recently was with a guy and I discovered I was pregnant, and for once in my life I felt my life had real meaning to it, guided by God..like something great was happening that was out of my control. a week later I got my period and I felt nothing. why did all of that happen? why did i get invested in the meaning of life just to be back to where I was before? it was like my life did a 180 when I found out. and then it flipped back it seemed unfair. I had plenty of feelings of resentment at the time too because I felt he was only with me because it happened. he ended up dumping me and I blamed it on him for not being able to reciprocate love, but really that is how I feel so I completely projected that onto him. So the answer to your question is yes I feel love for my family, because we have been through so much shit, but I hate them too because they caused this and I never had a childhood because I was a kid who had to deal with adult problems therefore they're was no freedom? idk what a typical childhood is supposed to be like but i grew up very isolated on a farm, and i used to flip out from excitement when we would get to go grocery shopping. So all that existed in my life was my family. I didn't know of a world beyond them. I had cousins that used to ostracize me with my sister and make fun of me and exclude me saying no one would ever love or date me. it hurt really bad because I did feel like a freak. So I don't think psychopathy is a complete lack of emotions, because no one is born without emotions. when you're hungry which is a basic need, you are probably going to get angry from being so hungry, and if you need something like comfort, you may feel lonely and those are emotions aren't they? I guess in my opinion if you grow up feeling like a freak and having proof of being a legitimate freak, that's when your conscience messes up, frees itself from others views and goes after the primal urges instead of social norms. And I don't think psychopaths are without a conscience, they just have a unique, self made view of the world around them. everyone can feel 'love' if just depends what you do with the feeling. Me, I get sick after too much loviness. makes me want to crawl out of my skin. but perhaps that's because I haven't found the right person yet. even if i did, I still have that ingrained fear of PEOPLE. and that's what manipulation comes from, a fear of people. afraid that they will find out things about you and reject you. Everyone is different i suppose though.

Yes, you made your point . You are truly a sick individual. You don't even realise it, and brag about being cruel to animals. You obviously have an exaggerated sense of self importance and great narcissim . If you are of such high intelligence, why can't you even spell properly? You think you are smart because you choose not killl? Any fool can kill. You are the fool. Most humans would prefer to help others than to hurt. You are obviously a sneeky little shit, being proud of being a sick prick. We have an old saying in Australia, "he should have been knocked on the head and the milk given to the pigs". But the pig did get it eh, pig? You are dumb as dogshit, just more dangerous. Regards. PS: I feel sorry for your sister. Maybe the wind might blow the wrong way one day, and she may say something that may offend your self inflated ego, and you'll go for her. You are not smart. You're a dickhead that can't even grasp the english language. You'd be a joke, if you were not so subhuman. You have my sympathy, I hope you get some help to be a real person.

I would say I am smart, in comparison to 70% of the people I'm surrounded by on the daily, which is good enough for me. Been awhile since I got a nasty comment like yours, ah refreshing. Hahahah. Mainly because you resort to degrading my character which you know nothing about other than what I've typed in said paragraph after a couple drinks that night. It's not a contest of who on this comment section is most fucked up, I just thought of sharing my story with from my point of view, not really looking for any kind of validation or answers, simply putting my story of how I feel out there. I'm not sure why you would assume that I can't spell though I'm too lazy to go back and look at my errors..I am the fool, what exactly does that mean? It's not like I'm incapable of loving others, I do love my family and close friends, but I must be a subhuman species because I won't kiss some perfect strangers ass. Perhaps you yourself believe your actions have no importance in this world, why else would you feel the need to degrade me, a stranger, on a comment section of an article about sociopathy, as if I'm not welcome here to comment. Do you believe your words have no impact on others? What you said struck somewhat of a chord with me, but you know about .00000005% of my life based on the paragraph that I typed so who's the fool? I would say you're a fool who resorts to calling someone stupid who you know nothing of. Is it 2009? I thought we were somewhat past internet bullying and it's harmful effects. It's funny that you think I was bragging about such things, I'm just saying how I feel. And then you go and degrade to make yourself feel like a good guy, or something. You know, a little bit of narcissism and self belief goes a long way. A lot of people end up making a lot of money or being great successes because the relied on their personals hardships as a source of supply and motivation kind of like a reaction formation. But I will take what you said "with a grain of salt" like we say in America.

Your comments rang true to me as I was the victim in a relationship with someone who i suspect to be a narcissist/psychopath. Your description was a mirror of this person with the exception that I am not sure if he killed animals. You made your point. Thank you for your honesty.

Alright, 1 you are not a psychopath nor a sociopath, I know because I am diagnosed with aspd (antisocial personality disorder) and have been doing a lot of research on my diagnoses, you, as I have seen countless times online are someone who wants to look as if they are a psychopath and you go around saying to your friends "ooo I am a psycho guys." Whether you think others find that enticing or you are moronic I don't know. You say you have a high IQ yet you spelled countless words wrong, I have an IQ of 146, and work in cyber security, I would love to trace your IP address and give you to everyone else to handle, but you are stupid enough to have someone else punch you in the face, just go stick your face in a meat grinder buddy. :)

Are you Kenny Stinson who fucks his bio sister Paula Hadden Oates? Everyone that knows you know your parents were child molesters who fucked you up really good and now you live with and have a son with your nasty whore of a sister. Get off this board. Everyone already knows you're a colossal piece of Shit. You will never be relevant. Kick rocks hillbilly.

Seems like quite a biased statement that you made.
Though I'm sure we can find psychopaths in government, it seems just as likely To find them incorporate America – As a matter of fact, there have been some studies that have demonstrated so – especially if the culture is one where to promote oneself you have to get over on another. In such environments, the percentage of psychopaths increases as you go up the peer amid of power!
So psychopathy may be more likely In corporate America than government, since some government people are doing so due to a desire to serve society. (Psychopaths only serve themselves)
Of course, you'd get no argument from me that since multimillionaires and billionaires started the meme during Reagan's administration that all government is bad, there has been a notable uptick in the amount of government people that also only serve their own interests!

What illness would you attribute to a government agent whose desire to serve society causes them to violate others' rights, commit force and violence against those they deem as wrong, etc.?? So, as long as their intent seems good, then we should disregard their psychopathic behavior?

Psychopathic behavior is not nurtured it was genetically given, to date there is no cure. If someone can enforce the law without the emotional repercussions most people have from killing other people, wouldn't a Psychopath be the best person for the job? Their perception of the facts would never be altered, unlike people who are emotional and their opinions or views would be disrupted by their feelings. Psychopaths exhibit self-control, however, it would be frightful to put a sociopath in that position as they are easily triggered.

I remember hearing this study on the news that psychopaths are more likely to drink black coffee, not be susceptible to contagious yawning, be lawyers or Ceo's. While teachers and nurses are least likely to be phycopaths.

I was married to a teacher for 10 years - very narcissistic bubble they live in - suggest alternative ways of educating and see their reaction. Many health providers are mental health patients. Watch the ID channel - there are many examples from all walks of life.

My mother committed suicide and I sought counseling afterwards. The nurse told me I was psychotic upon my admission of hearing Mom speaking to me in my head. Um, I know its her voice and that it's not actually her.... Regardless, I was prescribed a medication that caused me to grind my teeth; I told her of it.she got angry when I refused to continue this med. She said she's been taking this for years and never had any problems.
What?
Because she takes it, she prescribes it for everyone. Great.
My problem? I've never had dental issues. My insurance doesn't cover dental. I cannot afford the dental procedures necessary to alleviate the pain; extractions plus dentures. I want this nurse person to pay for the damages she's caused me. It's been 5 years. What can I do?

There are a couple of formulas that help rebuild tooth enamel that you should ask about as a temporary solution that might help with non cracking. And vitamin A oil (small amounts, is toxic). Look up.the Weston Price diet and foundation, and the book how to cure tooth decay. I'm not familiar with your condition, but they may have relevance and be the cheap option. Dental procedures often lead to more proceadures to redo them and the total loss of teeth eventually after decades of proceadures.

An original Australian enamble rebuilder dentist over here use us called Tooth Mousse. With an active ingredient, Recaldent to look for. Another ingredient used in some toothpaste is Novamin. Vitamin A in cold processed COD liver oil, to avoid heat destroying that firm (though I have used normal vitamin a instead) apparently stimulates an enzyme that binds calcium to teeth, and people use it on bad teeth. Dry mouth from lack of testosterone is associated with a lack of this enzyme.

My mother committed suicide and I sought counseling afterwards. The nurse told me I was psychotic upon my admission of hearing Mom speaking to me in my head. Um, I know its her voice and that it's not actually her.... Regardless, I was prescribed a medication that caused me to grind my teeth; I told her of it.she got angry when I refused to continue this med. She said she's been taking this for years and never had any problems.
What?
Because she takes it, she prescribes it for everyone. Great.
My problem? I've never had dental issues. My insurance doesn't cover dental. I cannot afford the dental procedures necessary to alleviate the pain; extractions plus dentures. I want this nurse person to pay for the damages she's caused me. It's been 5 years. What can I do?

Apparently law and this sort of industry atttracts people with mental problems the most (I would have thought the arts). So what hope do you have or arguing with a person with mental issues, or proper treatment under such a dismissive personality (wherever it works on themselves or not without side effects, has little logical relevance. People's physiology interaction varies widely. One must be observant to the symptoms of reaction and change accordingly. It is neglect otherwise. Not that people won't get locked up for insisting on that).

Just because there are some bad apples in the does not mean they would not fulfill certain positions better than others. That is like saying all dogs are bad because a few dogs have bitten people. Anyone remember Cujo?

It is indeed true that we are more likely to perform those tasks although , and I speak against my self, regular people should always be the ones to enforce justice in the system.
The vision that you have is as damage as ours. Normal people are to judge for emotions are an inportant part of human understanding and interaction.
If beeng a psycho was good for the social administration, it would nof be an illness. At lest thats what I think. You would not be prudent if you wher to put someone like me in charge of public safety...
Still, sociopaths would be even worse.